NEET 2024 Controversy: Physics Wallah CEO Alakh Pandey Files plea in Supreme Court

Delhi: Amid a wave of disputes surrounding NEET 2024, Alakh Pandey, the CEO of the educational platform Physics Wallah, has approached the Supreme Court seeking intervention. The petition highlights issues related to the alleged exam paper leak and the allocation of grace marks.

Pandey's plea comes in response to mounting concerns and claims that have cast doubt over the integrity of this year's National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The allegations suggest that the exam paper may have been leaked before the test date, raising serious questions about fairness and transparency.

After the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), Alakh Pandey, CEO of Physics Wallah, asserted that the students have their hopes from the Supreme Court and the court should assure students that they will give the judgment with integrity.

Speaking on the NEET-UG 2024 exam results controversy with ANI, Alakh Pandey pinned his hopes on the Supreme Court and said, "We have hopes from the Supreme Court. Even the students have hope from the Supreme Court. The SC should give assurance to the students that we will give the right judgment with integrity...So many students are protesting......Are you expecting an 18-year-old kid to appeal in court? I feel the SC should first work to stop the protest.

Stepping up his attacks on the NTA, Pandey questioned the testing agency on its silence over the paper leak issue. "...NTA released a document after a lot of questions were raised. In the document, they mentioned that they gave grace marks to 1563 students and have also given six students full marks of 720. These students are from the centres of 4 states...We filed a PIL, yesterday. We raised questions as to why NTA is hiding the paper leak issue. Why isn't it being investigated? How can they give grace marks?”

He further targeted the agency for its inefficiency in answering the formula behind giving grace marks to the students. Claiming that the students have become demotivated after the incident, Pandey said that the students have given up and are contemplating if they should become doctors or not. "At a score of 610, 620, 630, students got government medical colleges in different states. But there is no surety at a score of even 650 today... The reason behind this is either the paper leak or a lot of students receiving grace numbers," Pandey said.

He added further, "66 students scored 720 marks. In AIIMS, the number of general seats is 46, which means these 66 students won't get a seat in AIIMS Delhi. How will you decide whom to give the seat to? Even if it is considered that there was no paper leak or grace marking given to 1563." Pandey also raised questions on the pattern of the question papers and said, "Why was the paper set like this, in which even after securing full marks the student won't be getting a seat in the top college? The one thing that I felt very bad about is that in the press conference, the NTA director should have said everything clearly. He should have said the truth."

The NTA on Saturday set up a committee to review the grace marks awarded to NEET UG 2024 candidates amid allegations of mark inflation. The Ministry of Education established a committee to review the grace marks awarded to over 1,500 candidates. Several candidates alleged that the inflation of marks has resulted in 67 candidates securing the top rank, including six from the same exam centre in Haryana.